If you’re an Orthodox Jew and you want to put up an eruv, you might be wise to consult a panel of scholars and experts to help keep you on the right side of thousands of years of Jewish law and tradition.
The city’s Department of Transportation has some rules of its own. The department is less concerned with your moral good standing than with protecting the city from liability, and its residents and light poles from errant wires.
“Coordinating the eruv application process allows us to ensure that any future construction projects take into account the existence of the eruv’s wires,” said Ted Timbers, a spokesman for hte department. He said it also gives the city “the ability to inform the community that they may have to be temporarily moved during the construction.”
The department sends interested parties a packet of paperwork that includes two-and-a-half single-spaced pages of eruv regulations and a self-certification letter in which applicants promise to pay all costs and expenses associated with the eruv, absolve the city from any legal responsibility for it, and concede that the City can take it down at any time.
There are some practical guidelines too. See Rules Nos. 4 and 5: “The Eruv shall consist of an unadorned string, approximately ¼ of an inch in thickness” and “The detailed plans and drawings must show that the Eruv will not hang lower than fifteen (15) feet above the sidewalk and eighteen (18) feet above the roadway.”
(NY Times)
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14 Responses
Makes sense to check with the city before using the city’s equipment for eruvim.
The poskim,including Rav Aharon Kotler,z.l.,Rav Moshe Feinstein z.l.,Rav shimon Schwab z.l.,and the gedolim in Eretz Yisroel have issued a p’sak that in Manhattan,one CANNOT and MAY NOT make an eruv. It is an established p’sask and was recently again assered by the Bais Din of K’hal Adath Jeshurun (Breuer’s) and people should not rely on any other Rabbi that may have given permission to put one up. People who carry anywhere on the streets of Manhattan on Shabbos,are nichshal in a melocho ossur min ha Torah. In a time like this,with so many tragedies occurring in the world and in the midst of our own people all over,it would definitely be wise to uphold the sanctity of Shabbos to the utmost of our ability.
What is wrong with doing it in Manhattan as opposed to a different place?
>I see the signs in the US are as badly spelled as they are in E”Y. There’s no “yud” in the word ערוב
Regardless of whether you agree with the spelling or not, this is the Rabbinic spelling of the word.
Certainly you know that there are differences between Biblical and Rabbinic Hebrew (See Pirush Hamishnayos l’haRambam Terumos 1:1).
NYC includes more than Manhattan….
If a p’sak was given by gedolim of the previous generation (gedolim,rabbonim who were asked shaalos by other renowned rabbonim)tyhat something is ossur,no rabbi of a later generation has the power to be matir the issur. Otherwise,our rabbonim today could be matir other gezeiros that were imposed on k’lal Yisroel in the past. Here we’re dealing with chillul Shabbos b’farhes’ya,and others,seeing frum people carrying,may carry without thinking twice,even where no eruv exists.I think we should leave the paskening to our talmidei chachomim,our gedolai hador,and not to internet writers. Find me a rov who is greater than the rabbonim who forbade this eruv.
Chararliehall: no offense, but not all rabbis are crerated equal. There was a group of 100 rabbis and rosh yeshiva who, after R’ Moshe Fienstien was niftar, wanted to put up an eiruv in brooklyn, where R’ Moshe had said they can’t put up and Eiruv. So they came to R’ Yaakov Kaminetsky with 100 signatures and tried to explain why R’ Moshe was wrong etc., but he said no, and stuck with the p’sak of R’Moshe. When the Rabbis left his son asked him why he stuck with R’ Moshe’s p’sak if there are 100 people arguing on him? R’ Yaakov’s answer was somewhere along the lines that 100 other rabbis don’t compare to R’ Moshe’s fingernails.
Just because someone has smicha, and I’m not doubting that any of the people you mentioned are Talmidei Chachamim, I happen to have a very close personal relationship with two of the Rabbis you mentioned, and I respect them very much. But I still don’t think that they should argue on this p’sak of R’ Moshe specifically because it pertains to thousands of Jews who may be committing issurim d’oraissa.
indamir: With all due respect to your hashkafa, R’ Yaakov Kamenetzky was niftar 2 weeks before R’ Moshe. R’ Yaakov on 29 Adar 1 5746 (1986) And R’ Moshe on Taanis Ester, 13 Adar 2
Did anyone read that the 4 rabbis ONLY made a Kosher Eruv around YU and the Washington Heights area, eruvim on small sections of an area are different than larger eruvim.
KAJ-WH-Interesting that your statement is contradicted by R. Moshe ztz”l himself, where he says that when rabbanim make a gezera that it is NOT forever and is for a limited time. And to #4, it’s interesting that R. Moshe says specifically in the Igros that rabbanim who want to make an eruv in Manhattan can do so if they want, since they have rabbanim gedolim on whom to rely (R. Moshe’s words, not mine, I.M. O.C. 4:89) Yes, it’s true that the gezera with R. Kotler ztz”l et al. came later (though not by much-the teshuva was 1959, the gezera was 1962), but it is well documented that R. Moshe was uncomfortable with the strong language of the gezera.
indamir #12 :
Something is wrong with your little story. I believe R’ Yaakov K. ztl was nifter three weeks before R’ Moshe ztl
In Eretz Yisroel there are known differences in psak between the Chazon Ish and Rav Sholom Zalman A. One is not machmir and one a kula, rather differences in psak. GET IT!!!!
Rav Shechter only allows the eruv around YU. Not in all of WHts and not in all of Manhattan.
besides the issues of various rabbonim for the eruv, there is another issue of you must get “permission” from the “landowner” to make an eruv; thus every eruv (supposedly) has a kinyan with the local government authority. thus these city reg’s (i assume)
(interesting; in tenafly where the town did not want to agree, they went to the “shade tree commission” which had juriscdiction, not the town of tenafly. in deal (orginally) it turned out the letter from the mayor agreeing was forged; when the mayor was informed, he called the forger stupid, because he would have had no problem to agree, and a new letter (and, i guess, kinyan, was made.)
by the way, the current manhattan eruv is under the approval of a well respected monsey bet din; the yu eruv is under rav schachter.
brooklyn eruvin are under very well respected poskim; they disagree with rav moishe (see rav menashe klien’s sefer where he rips rav moshe apart on the eruv issue.)